Flask Full of Kerosene
by PerverseLeigh
Summary: A dancer, a soldier and a space pirate walk into a bar... and meet a Furyan
1. A Dancer, a Soldier & a Space Pirate

**Hey everyone! Ready for some action? I just had to get this one up since my mMuse wouldn't STFU about it! Hehehe...**

**I don't own Anything in this story, All characters from the Chronicles of Riddick series and the Firefly/Serenity series belong to their own people. I do not make money from this, I just love the characters and want to share a little bit of creativity with the 'Verse.**

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The thin girl entered the run-down rim planet bar on a breeze that smelled like patchouli and honey. There was no reason to notice her, in fact not many in the packed bar did, but there was just something about the way she moved that caught Riddick's attention.

Her posture wasn't spine straight, graceful elegance like the lady who had glided in just moments before, nor the sure-footed march of the lady's ebony skinned friend... No, this girl moved as if every step from the battered door to the dingy bar stool was part of a dance and the music scored only in her head.

Her movements flowed like water bubbling over stones in a brook and the bald man couldn't seem to keep his dark-goggled eyes off of her, no matter what.

She slapped a fist full of credit notes onto the bar and the grizzled old bar keep actually jumped at the sound.

"Waddle it be?" the keep asked, as if he had anything more than a local brew and whiskey that no one here could afford.

"Beer, please?" She requested politely as she settled her fine frame gingerly onto the open stool next to Riddick.

"Ahh..." The bartender seemed to balk at the youthful sound of her voice.

"Twenty Seven _is_ old enough to drink on this moon, right?" She cut off his protest with a lilt of exasperation and Riddick smiled into his cup.

The keep scooped up her cash and turned to fill a mug for her.

The girl turned toward Riddick, slightly, and looked over her shoulder with a flip of her hair as the barkeep settled a mug of brew on the bar in front of her. She turned her head back so she was fully facing Riddick. He could see the slight smirk as she carefully picked up the mug and lifted it to her lips without looking at it. He expected her to sip at it cautiously so he was rather startled when she locked eyes with him, winked and chugged her drink back in three or four huge gulps.

"Oh, that's not a good idea..." he found himself warning her.

"Gotta." She beamed a bright smile at him. "It would get knocked over in the fight."

"What fight?" He snorted.

Just then a man in a long, red-brown coat was thrown up against the bar between them.

"Might wanna clear out, Li'l Albatross." The man practically giggled in delight, "This one's gonna be a doozie!"

"I thought I'd participate in this year's U-Day festivities, Mal." While she talked, she casually lifted a booted foot and cruelly shoved an attacker away from her friend.

"No can do, little one." The man grabbed Riddick's half full mug and chugged it all. "Thanks, friend." He said to Riddick before turning back to the girl. "Simon would have a fit, you bein' in a fight."

The man elbowed a rougher looking fellow in the face before being dragged, bodily, back into the fray.

The thin girl pouted a bit then turned around to brace her back against the bar and prop herself up on her elbows to watch the live entertainment and Riddick followed suit.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye. "You're not gonna join in?" She asked him a little too casually.

"Not my fight." He grunted back at her.

The ebony skinned woman had waded into the fight now and seemed to be trying to make her way over to Mal. She grabbed a man by his hair and pulled him back so far that he could either drop to the floor or break his own back. He dropped down and she stepped over him to shove another man into a pole hard enough to daze him.

An outraged female scream ripped through the tavern and all motion ceased.

"_Get your hands OFF OF ME!_" Riddick heard the elegant lady scream. There was the sound of ripping fabric and the girl beside him leapt gracefully from her stool and into the crowd.

His eyes followed her progress as the dance of her movements flowed like a raging torrent. Riddick shoved himself away from the bar and followed her trail of carnage, widening the path and keeping these low-lifes off her back.

The girl twisted out of the reach of a burly man, ducked and came back up under his arms using her upward momentum to ram her fist into his gut under his rib cage then twisted out from under his crumpling form.

A smaller man tried to capture the girl in a bear hug but Riddick caught him by the collar on his way past and tossed him back into the path of one of his fellows who was swinging a broken chair leg at the ebony skinned woman's back. The chair leg connected with the smaller man's skull and he went down in a heap, while the ebony woman punched the man with the chair leg in the throat.

The thin girl rammed a knee into a man's the groin causing him to double over then used his back like a springboard to get enough lift to spin a black boot into another man's face. She leapt and planted both of her boots on top of a table then jumped up to catch a rafter.

Riddick grabbed another man who was trying to catch the girl's feet as she swung like a trapeze artist from the rafter. He slammed the man's face into the tabletop, knocking him out then shook another off his back and back-handed that one in the nose over his shoulder before leaping off the floor to crouch on the table under the girl's swinging feet.

He looked up just in time to see her swing forward and let go, pulling her arms in and arching her body so she could make the most of the force of her momentum and the force of gravity to slam her boots into the back of the elegant lady's attacker.

Riddick silently cheered the girl on in his head. A bar brawl was one thing but attacking someone who obviously was not fighting and was trying to keep as far out of the way as possible was another thing, completely. Riddick leapt off the table toward the females and stood over them while the elegant lady pulled herself together.

All, in all, it only took them a few minutes to traverse the width of the bar but in that short time the crowd had begun to thin as the non-fighters found exits and the fighters steadily knocked each other out.

Riddick didn't actually see the merc until he was almost on them but Riddick didn't give the scraggly man a chance to do more than recognize him befor bum-rushing him. Riddick slammed his shoulder into the merc's chest, hard enough to knock the wind out of him then knocked his legs out from under him with a sweep. Riddick pounced on his chest, took the merc's face in one hand and slammed the back of his skull onto the wooden floor.

Riddick watched in satisfaction as the merc's eyes rolled up in the back of his head. He turned to look for his next foe and saw that both women were looking at him, wide-eyed and the guy called Mal was standing just behind them watching Riddick rather calmly for a person with a broken nose and two blackening eyes.

"I gotta admit: I've been wantin ta do that to him for at least a decade," Mal said and dodged a flying mug, "But I think I might'a chose a better time, and-or, place for it."

Riddick's skin went cold as he realized that not only did he get into a fight that he had no intention on fighting, he had probably chosen to back the wrong side and he wasn't sure exactly _why_ he had started fighting to begin with.

"You didn't choose wrong," The odd girl reassured him, "You'll see..."

"Well, anyway," Mal gestured at the merc, "You knocked him out, you gotta get him to the ship."

A _ship_? They had a way _off_ this rock? Riddick grabbed the merc's forearm and tugged him up into a sitting position then leaned over and hoisted the merc onto his broad shoulders.

"Lead the way." He told them.

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**Soooo... What do ya think? Review & Favorite!**

**See ya in a few days!**


	2. Confuzzled

**Many thanks to Fibita and NLMarch who have chosen to read my story and give me your feedback! I love hearing from ya!**

**This story may be mine, but all the characters and settings belong to other, more money-full people.**

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River liked the bald man. His thoughts were finely detailed, but uncluttered. She had caught him admiring her, but there was nothing in his thoughts that made her skin crawl. Unlike the other men in the bar who looked at her and immediately started formulating crude plans to get under her skirt, this man was merely admiring the way she moved. Looking at her as if she were a form of art. That's why she decided not to deflect his attention.

When the fight had started she caught several flashes from him, a running evaluation of the action and views of the "proper" way to do what he had just seen. When Inara had been attacked and River waded into the fray to rescue her, she planted the suggestion in his head: "Protect the girl." He had taken the suggestion without hesitation and almost gleefully bashed heads in to help her reach Inara.

Then he had knocked Jayne out. The only warning River had that something was going awry was two bright flashes of recognition then an explosion of panic and pain from Jayne. The only other person she knew that could move so precisely, without a fore-thought that would warn her was Jayne and the bald man had just taken him out in less than five seconds.

Mal was standing behind them now and she could feel him quickly work through pain/surprise/anxiety/irritation before he chose a flippant remark for the man who had both helped save Inara and knocked one of his crew senseless without cause.

Mal's words were meaningless to River so she ignored them but the bald man heard them and started to go cold with surprise. River heard the thoughts run through his confused brain. _I might have chosen the wrong side this time... Wait... WHY was I even fighting?_

River tried to console him, but he didn't really hear her words. Then Mal suggested that the man might want to vacate the planet with them and she was almost washed away with his desire to be off this dirt-ball and into the black. This was alright, then. This was perfect.

The man scooped up Jayne and bullied his way through the crowd and out the door of the saloon, kicking aside random patrons that strayed into his path.

She fell into step closely behind him and made a grimacing face at Jayne's limp and flopping form. Her currently off-again boyfriend was going to be unbearably grouchy for the next few days. She started making mental preparations to disappear into the ship's network of hidey holes if he came looking for her later. He had called it quits, this time. While she had no doubt that he would come back to her when he got lonely enough to apologize, right now she was under no obligation to soothe his ego.

Mal skirted to the front of their small group while calling for Kaylee to have the ship warmed up and ready to go. He got a quick affirmative over the small radio and they all swerved toward the ship yards.

~:}¥{:~

Kaylee bounded up the corridor to the cockpit, lighted on the edge of the pilot's chair and started flipping switches in the sequence she had been shown. If Mal had needed the ship moved he would have been shit outta luck, but he had just said "Warmed-up" and that she most certainly could do.

She had just gotten through the warm-up sequence when the cargo bay door signal lit. She toggled on the camera and saw Mal's distorted face glaring back at her. She depressed the external com button and leaned forward to speak into the mic.

"I'll be right down!" She told him then dashed out of the cockpit before she could hear his reply. She ran back down the corridor and skittered around the corner, almost knocking Simon over when he stepped out of the infirmary right in front of her. She braced them both by grabbing his upper arms for a second, then kissed him a good one right on the mouth.

"Gotta go!" She chirped at him, "Mal's waitin'!"

"Of course..." She didn't wait for him to finish his thought before dashing off again. "...Mal's waiting." He told the empty corridor.

She trotted up to the battered stand of controls for the doors and slapped the big faded red button that opened up the hold. The doors ground apart at a quick enough pace but Mal didn't wait for them to open fully before ducking through them.

She smiled and wiggled her fingers at River as she, too, slipped through the not-quite-open doors then her breath caught when she laid eyes on the bald beast of a man carrying the unconscious Jayne. She numbly watched his goggles bob a bit on his well-formed and rugged face as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Where do you want this one?" He rumbled and lifted a muscular shoulder to indicate Jayne. His voice was gravelly but so low that his words came out as a creamy purr that sent a shiver down her spine. The sound of his voice should be a sin and Kaylee was feeling a need to hear his confession.

"Simon..." River's clear voice cut through the haze in Kaylee's brain, reminding her that she was a grown, _married_ woman. Dammit. She snapped her jaw shut then licked her lips.

"Yeah..." Kaylee waved her arm vaguely toward the infirmary and the man smirked at her. "Infirmary..." She sighed.

The man walked past her and she caught a pungent whiff of dusty sweat. Simon never smelled like dusty sweat... Dammit.

~:}¥{:~

The dark haired girl lead Riddick further into the battered transport ship, guiding him away from the cute, grease-smeared chick with an almost possessive air.

The insides of the Firefly class transport were as banged up, but serviceable as the outsides were. Was that a bullet hole in that panel? Probably. He knew these people weren't in the convict capture and transport business, but it sure looked like they got into their fair share of trouble.

They made it to the infirmary and were ushered into the room by a gent who looked like an older, male version of the dark haired girl.

"River." She told him.

"What?" he asked her, startled.

"My name." She said in a slightly odd tone. "Not 'Dark Haired Girl'."

"Riddick." He replied, at a loss for anything else to say. He rolled the merc off his shoulders and plopped him onto the adjustable medical cot bolted into the center of the floor.

"What happened to Jayne, mister Riddick?" The gent asked in that polite, but firm tone that most doctors used to convey authority.

"Heh... I knocked him out." Riddick gave the gent a half-smile of satisfaction.

"Congratulations!" The gent said, almost too cheerily, "With what?"

"A floor." He waited for the reprimand, but it never came.

"Good choice!" The gent surprised him by saying, "I usually just dope him."

Riddick just looked from the girl to the medic and back. He had nothing to say to that.

"Yeah," He heard Mal's voice come from the doorway and turned slightly to face him while still being able to see the people in the med bay, "But my question is: 'Why?'"

"The last time we met he wasn't as... friendly."

"Well, he certainly is right pleasant when he's unconscious."

"I think so."

"Back to the business side of things: Inara has offered to pay you a reward for helping to rescue her."

"Didn't do it for money."

"All the same. The fee she's offering is equal to room and board here, on _Serenity_, to our next stop." Mal paused a moment to let that sink in. "Or we can drop you off anywhere on this planet you choose."

"Where's your next stop?"

"Supply drop in Dyton."

"I got business around there."

"Alright!" Mal seemed satisfied with that answer. "I tell Zoe to come give you the run-down, show you to a room."

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	3. Instincts

**Don't worry! There's more... I Just gotta get the time to get it typed up. For now how about you settle yourself with this tidbit.**

**I don't own any of this.**

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"Do you have any needs?" Kaylee asked the bald man who'd introduced himself as Richard. She realized how that sounded and felt her cheeks grow hot. "I mean do you want anything. OMIGOD! Do you need to stop and get luggage!?"

Richard stared at her blankly for a moment before giving her a ghost of a smile. "Heh... nah." His deep voice resonated somewhere in her core that was making her mighty flustered. "I travel light."

"Right then..." She swung her arms lazily back and forth a couple times to keep from looking like she was fidgeting. "I'll just go let Mal know." With that she turned on her heel and trotted off toward the bridge.

Once she had gotten safely down the hall and around the corner, out of sight, she stopped and pressed her face to the cool bulkhead. Chilling her flush cheeks on the metal of the wall calmed her enough that she could look back on the encounter with a fresh sense of horror. She lifted her head away from the hard, flat surface then let it settle back with a solid _THUD, _and _THUD_ again.

"Kaylee?" Mal's voice was way too close for comfort, right now. "Is... everything OK?"

"OH!" She jumped to an upright position and put her hand over her startled heart. "Mal! You shouldn't sneak up on folk like that!" She looked up to see Mal and Jayne sitting in the infirmary looking at her with bafflement in their eyes. Mal had a mobile computer in his hands and Jayne's hand was hovering in the air over it as if he had been pointing to it.

"Me?!" Mal sputtered a bit, "If you hadn't been so gorram intent on takin my ship apart with yer skull..."

"Uh, huh... Richard said he don't need anything from the surface." She turned around and headed toward the engine room. "If you need me you know where to find me!"

"In yer bunk? Takin' a cold shower?" She heard Jayne chide from behind her. She made a rude gesture over her shoulder and kept right on walking.

When she got back to where she had left the burly bald man he was nowhere in sight, thankfully. The smell of him was still heavy on the air, though so she hurried past just in case he came back looking for her or something. Everything about that man just tied her tongue up and made her knees wobble in a _very_ good way.

She trotted all the way to the engine room where she could take comfort in the unemotional acceptance of her beloved _Serenity_.

~:}¥{:~

Riddick had a towel wrapped around his neck and was headed toward the communal passenger showers when he heard the metallic banging of running boots on decking. The sound of it was coming toward him at a fast clip so he found himself flattened against the wall between the bulkheads, concealed in the shadows, out of habit.

He remained perfectly still and completely unnoticed as the mechanic ran back to whatever project she had been pulled from. Moments later the doctor returned to check on the merc and the captain left them to their own devices. Mal strolled out of the med bay like another man might walk into their own home.

"Ya know," Mal started talking to no one in particular, "If you lurk about like that all the time, yer gonna take to creepin' folk out." Riddick realized that the man was talking to him and raised an eyebrow.

"Not lurking," He reassured Mal, "Just got distracted by the action."

"Ah, yeah..." Mal smiled, more to himself than Riddick, "Our li'l Kaylee is right full'a energy. Don't really know how Simon, here, puts up with it." Mal poked a thumb into the air over his shoulder to indicate the doctor in the med bay and Riddick nodded at the unspoken designation of relationship.

"I got some personal grooming to do." He told the captain.

"Don't let me keep ya, then." Mal nodded to him then turned to walk out of the passenger deck. He turned back just before Riddick had stepped over the threshold into the head. "Oh, hey! Zoe did tell you that the cargo hold, crew quarters and technical areas are off limits, right?"

"Yeah..." Riddick lifted an eyebrow but nodded once more.

"Just checkin'." With that Mal walked into the cargo hold.

~:}¥{:~

Mal slowly made his way from the passenger deck to the bridge, making a few stops along the way to check on the workings of his ship.

After he got the cargo information from Jayne, he checked on the cargo himself. He felt better just having laid his own eyes on it. Next he went to the mess hall by way of Inara's shuttle. Inara shooed him on his way as quickly as she always did and so he went to scrounge up something caffeinated to drink.

He took the mug of rehydrated coffee-like liquid up to the bridge and leaned against the bulkhead separating the corridor from the bridge. He just leaned there like that for a spell watching the star scape and sipping his drink while River made minute adjustments to the control panel in front of her.

"Sir." Zoe was behind him. He turned slightly so she knew he was listening, but didn't yet take his eyes off the scenery. "I've been looking up information on our passenger."

"And?" Mal wasn't really curious, but one of Zoe's more redeeming facets was her cautious nature with strangers.

"I'm not sure it's a good idea to have him on board." She said in a foreboding tone.

"And, why's that?" Mal prompted her. Sometimes she played her information a little too close to her leather-clad chest.

"Well, he's got a few warrants for his arrest, Sir."

"More than me?" Mal was slightly interested now.

"Well, no..." She grimaced. "But most of these are for murder and one of his warrants states he's wanted for questioning in the ecological destruction of an entire _planet_."

"Huh..." Mall turned to face her and took the hand-held computer from her. "Good thing we ain't got one of those."

"There are extradition orders attached to these. Helion Prime, Crematoria..."

"Ain't Crematoria one of those penal colonies?" Mal asked her so she wouldn't read through the entire list of places that wanted this guy back. Seemed to him that if this Riddick was such a _po'NAN_ all these places would be glad to never see him again.

"Yes, Sir." She paused, waiting for him to get to the point, then added: "One of those near-solar places where the ground boils during the day.

"Huh..." Mall frowned at the display in her hand, "FAHNG Sheen. Something tells me he wouldn't have gotten away from there if he hadn't paid his due."

"Sir..." She fixed him with her 'disapproving' face, "The one from Crematoria is for jail breaking and mass murder."

"Well, Zoe," He was exasperated with her now. "What in gorram hell do you expect me to do about it now? Push him out an airlock?"

"No! I-"

"Good! Coz that's reserved for Jayne!" He took the last swig of his coffee-like mud and pushed past her back toward the mess hall. "If trouble arises, we'll take care of it. If it don't, then there's nothin' for us to worry about." He heard Zoe huff a sigh at his back as he ducked into the mess hall.

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**Happy Holidays, folks! I'm not sure if I'll get to another chapter before the New Year. Please enjoy a warm & safe Holiday Season!**


	4. A Friendly Game

**Hey guys! Last chapter before the new year! For those of you who are going out, please be safe. Even if you aren't drunk you're bound to croos the path of someone who is, so don't let em getcha!**

**Special thanks to: 99x99801, Bkaa19, fibita and KazenoTenchu (favorited as I was writing this tonight!) for the fave's! Love ya's & Happy New Year!**

**Oh, how I wish I owned even a piece of this greatness... but I don't not even a smidgen. **

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Jayne's head hurt.

He'd been having himself a good old time celebrating U-Day. He'd gotten the shipment loaded then popped in for a drink at the local establishment. He thought he had gotten himself out of the bar a good while before Mal's celebrating got too out of hand. Then he saw River go all moon-brained and wade right into the brawl.

So... Yeah! Jayne had done what any red-blooded man would do when his woman was in danger. He had bashed heads in to get her out.

Right as he got to her he had spotted the murdering con who had gotten away from his previous crew. He went to tackle the guy and the next thing he knew he was waking up to Mal standing over him grinning like the cat what ate the goldfish.

And his head hurt.

He had given Mal the specifics about the cargo, like that it was _live_ and had to be dropped off at a specific place at a specific time so as they could get paid, proper.

Mal left and Zoe came in to ask about the con.

"Like, what do you wanna know?" Jayne growled. "There's not much to tell. The guy's worth a lot of credits so we went after him."

"How did he get away?" Zoe was particularly intense.

"I don't know if you noticed," Jayne grimaced at the memory, "But were weren't exactly top-notch, as far as bounty hunters went." He relayed the story and she went off to do whatever it was she did all the time.

Not long after, Mal found him and he had a plan.

~:}¥{:~

Riddick stepped out of his bunk and into the passenger deck corridor. He had been thinking of alleviating his boredom with a snack or scrubbing the kitchen, but as soon as he spotted the merc headed in his direction he turned back toward his bunk.

"Hey!" The burly merc wanted his attention. "Wanna spot me?"

"Spot you...?" Riddick let a little of his befuddlement creep into his voice.

"Yeah." The merc confirmed. "We got weights and a tread-belt in the cargo bay."

"Oh." Lame. Riddick looked around but could find nothing else to use as an excuse to get away. "Sure."

The merc jerked his head toward the bay then started off that way.

The weights weren't fancy; just a bench and a barbell with interchangeable weighted disks, but anything was better than scrubbing floors.

The merc silently checked the system over then spun the wing nut off the end, added a modest amount of weight, tightened the nut and repeated for the other side of the pole.

He straddled the bench, paused then turned toward Riddick.

"Jayne." The merc stuck out his hand. Riddick looked at the hand for about half a second then clasped it in his own.

"Riddick; Richard." He replied and the merc nodded, pumped Riddick's hand once then laid down on the to work through some personal routine.

Riddick grabbed a random dumbbell to curl in one hand while standing behind the bench and keeping a close eye on Jayne's workout. They kept on like that for a bit then switched so Riddick could take the bench. He added another ten pounds to each side and worked through his own routine.

Jayne paid strict attention to spotting Riddick. He got the feeling that Jayne wasn't very bright but that he had the sort of refined attention span that enabled the man to learn things right, learn them thoroughly and never forget them.

Riddick finished with his workout and sat up to address his unlikely companion.

"So, you're their tracker?" Riddick would never forget how quickly this man had found him last time. It would have been embarrassing if this guy wasn't so good at tracking.

"Yeah." Jayne grunted, "And hired gun."

Riddick gave him an inarticulate grunt and a nod before getting up off the bench. There was a slight _whoosh_ sound that alerted Riddick soon enough so he could snatch the large, dingy orange ball out of the air before it hit his face.

"Halfs?" The childlike chirp of the dark-haired girl's voice held challenge in its tone. she and the nervous mechanic were standing to the side of the bay, smiling.

"Sure." with one hand Riddick popped the ball up onto his index finger, already spinning. "I take the Mech, you get the Merc."

The mechanic looked apprehensively at the spinning ball, relieved to be on his team. The dark haired girl, however, almost looked gleeful at his display of prowess.

The ensuing game was unlike anything he had ever played. It quickly became evident that, for River, this game was her training. If she fought like she played...

She was fast in thinking and movement; light on her feet as she dodged, spun and wove around her opponents; with her sure-fingered grip she was able to snatch the ball and keep it in an almost unbreakable grip once she had it.

Riddick amped up his game, pressing her to judge her skills and she matched him effortlessly. To him it was evident that although he knew he could overpower her he would have to catch her first and if she had a weapon he would be hard-pressed to incapacitate her.

Somehow, the mechanic girl got the ball. She looked terrified for a split second before twisting away from Jayne's clumsy advance then ducking behind Riddick.

"Hey girl!" He chided her, "You can't make a shot from back there."

"I'm not sure if this is a game or a sparring match!" Came her squeaky reply.

"Don't worry, Kay." He chuckled, "I won't let em getch'ya." He moved to block River, directly while keeping Jayne in his sights. River gave him a half-smile then an odd look to Jayne that sent a tingle down Riddick's spine.

Jayne grunted as if assenting to some command and sidled out of Riddick's direct line of sight and into his peripheral vision, then a little further until Riddick was forced to either lose sight of him or allow River into his peripheral as well. Now, this was more like it!

"You with me, Kay?" He asked the silent girl. He needed her to speak so he could tell where she was.

"Yeah." Her voice was surprisingly steady; focused.

The moment she spoke he twisted so he could toss one leg behind her. He brought up both arms so his upper body resembled a goal post from and old Earth game. He swiveled his arms so that he was partially boxing the mechanic in, away from their opponents.

His fists were clenched to keep his fingers in one piece when he blocked the diving move from Jayne toward Kaylee and swept the striking move from River away from his head.

Kaylee wasted no time in making for the basket, pumping her legs to get as much momentum as possible with Jayne was hot on her heels.

River landed on her feet behind Riddick but sprang back toward him as soon as she struck the floor. Jayne was only slightly slower, which surprised Riddick. He should be a great deal slower.

Riddick plucked River out of the air and redirected the force of her motion toward the mercenary. Jayne caught the dark haired girl before she collided with him and plunked her on the deck beside him.

Kaylee was now under the basket and just needed a few seconds to make a clear shot. Riddick moved to place himself between their opponents and his teammate. He cruelly shouldered Jayne to the ground when the mercenary moved to block him and placed a leg in front of River when she attempted to dive under Riddick's guard to tackle Kaylee's knees.

Kaylee made a jump shot and the ball whooshed through the net. She threw her arms in the air and did a little hip-wiggling victory dance before giving Riddick a quick, sweaty hug.

The stark sound of slow clapping came from the scaffolding above their heads. Captain Reynolds was standing there watching. Riddick frowned and looked at the people who had been playing ball with him. Was it really just a game?

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**Well, there we have it! See you next year! F & R ppl!**


	5. Showers And Fishes

**Hey guys! Sorry this took so long! I've been pretty sick. Well, I hope you enjoy and I'll try to be quicker in getting the next one posted. **

**I don't own any of this.  
**

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"How'd I do, Captain?" He growled at Malcolm. His blood was still rushing from the exertion of such a high energy workout and he could smell the captain's curiosity and... Pleasure?

"That's some right fancy footwork, there." The captain didn't directly answer the question. "Where'd you learn all that?"

"You have access to my files." Riddick shrugged with one shoulder; he knew they had looked. He wouldn't expect anything less from people like this. "My kind of life isn't for the soft."

"Well, I just saw you take out my two of my best fighters," Mal said confirming to Riddick that River was more than a pilot, "but you didn't sacrifice the weakest member of your party. In fact, you chose the only completely non-combatant on my boat to partner a combative game. Aren't Furyans supposed to be all survival of the fittest?"

"Yeah," Riddick shrugged, "But 'fittest' doesn't mean just brawn."

"Wasn't brawn the point of the game?" There was a gleam in Mal's eyes that told Riddick that he wasn't as dumbfounded as he was trying to portray.

"Brawn isn't all there is to the game." Riddick stated firmly.

Mal nodded at that, looked at Jayne, then turned to go on about his business.

Oh... Kay... "Well." Riddick scooped up the ball and tossed it back to the girls. "I'm gonna hit the showers before dinner." He could smell the spicy musk of sexual arousal coming off the mechanic.

"Yeah." She practically panted. "Me too. Er... I mean I'm going to shower. Alone! Ohhh..." She snatched the ball from River and dashed up the steps to the catwalk and out the bulkhead door toward the crew quarters before they could see how deeply she was blushing.

Riddick chuckled to himself and headed toward the passenger head.

~:}¥{:~

Kaylee stepped under the shower and rinsed the waterless shampoo out of her hair. A person was supposed to be able to keep it in their hair, but she always felt like there was engine gunk in her hair if she didn't rinse the stuff out.

She had her eyes closed and was enjoying the steaming hot water beating down on her forehead when she heard a slight noise and hands slid around her waist startling her.

"Eeep!" She twisted around in the arms that were surrounding her and opened her eyes to her husband's laughing face.

"If you're going to waste a sinful amount of water on a long shower, I'm going to conserve a bit by sharing." Simon grinned and nudged her out of the way so he could scrub at his hair.

Kaylee admired Simon's body, how the water ran in rivulets between the muscles of his broad shoulders and spread out across his chest to drip off defined pectorals. Stray drops collected on his washboard abs that gave her the strong urge to kiss each sparkling liquid gem off his smooth skin, one by one. She rarely saw her man work out, but there wasn't a spare ounce of fat on his body; and she'd certainly checked! Every delicious inch...

He caught her watching him and, grinning, flicked water at her. She winced away from the sprinkle of water and splashed him back.

"What's that look for?" He asked her in a playful tone that told her he had a good idea what was going on in her head, right then, and it had nothing to do with the ship or her engines. She reached past him and turned off the shower stream, kissing his hard bicep as she did.

"Nothin'." She lied, in a sing-song voice and wrapped a towel around her dripping body. "I was just thinkin of a quick nap before supper..." She gave him a long looking over then a wicked grin and turned so she could flip her hair over and twist it into smaller towel. She righted herself and started to head for the door.

"Hey! A 'nap' sounds good!" He snaked an arm around her before she could get out of his reach. He held her to his hard body and murmured in her ear. "Those are also in short supply so we should also share them." He kissed the tender spot behind her earlobe, then nuzzled the back of her neck.

"Oooh! I said '_nap_', Sparky!" She scolded him and tried to pull away.

"That's what I said: '_nap_'." She could hear the grin in his voice as he held her tighter, against her half-hearted struggles. Being wrapped in his arms wasn't a bad thing.

_**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!**_ "People are waiting for that _shower_!" Jayne's muffled yell came through the bulkhead.

"Argh!" Kaylee screamed back and ripped herself out of Simon's grasp. "Jayne! You _BUN tyen-shung duh ee-DWAY-RO_!"

~:}¥{:~

Simon barely had enough time to flick a towel around his waist before Kaylee threw the shower room door open and slammed a fist into Jayne's solar plexus. Jayne's smug grin quickly melted into strangled gasping as his face turned beet red and he doubled over. He had been leaning against the bulkhead that held the door frame so he just sort of collided with it and slid to the deck as he tried to catch his breath.

Simon gathered his things quickly and turned back to Jayne who was still on the floor, gasping for breath like a grounded fish. Simon frowned. Occasionally the lower gravity they used to conserve energy would hinder some types of muscles from reacting properly after trauma.

He stepped over Jayne and knelt down next to him. He thumped Jayne on the back, hard, just under the last set of ribs and Jayne gasped in a breath of air.

"Are you going to be OK, Jayne?" He asked the scruffy man. "Can you breathe now?" Jayne nodded and gasped a few more breaths before answering.

"Eh..*Gasp* Yeah... *Gasp* I'll just... *Gasp* Sit here a spell..." Jayne thumped his head back against the wall.

"Good idea." Simon patted Jayne's shoulder and stood again. "I'm going to check on Kaylee." He thought of something and looked back at Jayne. "Oh, if you have anymore issues, the oxy's in the infirmary. If you interrupt us again I don't think I'd be able to stop her from killing you next time."

Simon walked down the corridor to Kaylee's bunk, that they now shared. He was certainly looking forward to his "nap".

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	6. Tea Time!

**Oh my god! Is it true? YES! I'm still alive! Thank, everyone, for sticking around! I'm going to try not to make y'all wait as long for the next chapter.**

**As always, I don't own it... I'm just a geek.**

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"Sir..." Zoe's voice came from behind Mal. "What are you doing?"

"Is it clear?"

"Sir...?"

"Dammit, Zoe!" His yell muffled by the wall his face was resting on. "Is it clear?!"

"Uh..." Zoe leaned around Mal to look down the corridor. "I don't see anyone. What's going on, sir?"

"What?" Mal pulled his head away from the wall and stood up straight. "Oh! I didn't see a thing!" He spun around and stomped to his bunk then down the ladder. He blustered up to his small sani unit and pulled on the water lever. He dipped his hand under the stream of cool water and, leaning over, splashed it onto his face. Kaylee running around the ship in her birthday suit was on the long list of things he really didn't need to see today.

He heaved a heavy sigh and looked into the mirror. "What am I gonna do with you...?" He mumbled at his reflection.

~:}¥{:~

Riddick stood still and quiet as he watched River flipping switches, piloting the craft through atmo to the docks outside an under-developed settlement on Dyton.

"It's rude to lurk in doorways." The girl said without turning.

"It's rude not to look at people when you speak to them." He retorted.

"Strict attention must be paid to the landing maneuvers." She replied in a soft voice. "Mal gets very upset when the ship crashes."

Riddick chuckled. "And you know this from experience?" She nodded and pushed the yolk away from her then pulled on it with a gentle touch. "Yeah? How many times has this boat crashed?"

"Once or twice..." She pushed two buttons to the left, above her head. Riddick looked at the back of her head for a moment as he processed this information. He frowned a little then turned to retreat down the hallway.

A few feet down the corridor he had to stop and wait for the doctor, Simon, to finish climbing out of the hatch to the bunk he shared with the mechanic.

"Oh, hello." Simon said, nodding at Riddick. "May I ask what you're doing on this deck?"

"Yeah." Riddick assented.

The doctor patiently waited for more of an explanation. When it was apparent that Riddick wasn't going to say any more, Simon decided the answer wasn't worth the wait. He sighed and made a broad shooing gesture.

"Come with me, please." Simon suggested in a tone that made the words into a polite order. Riddick quirked an eyebrow but nodded and followed the doctor to the galley.

Simon walked into the miniscule kitchen and started rummaging around for a snack. Riddick took a seat on the crash-couch that was bolted to the floor in the 'observation' alcove.

"Would you like some tea?" Simon's voice was tinny, as if his head was still in a cupboard. There was some scraping and running water noises then the small sound of the heating coil on the cooker being turned on to warm the tea water.

Riddick didn't answer, content to simply watch the atmosphere gradually thicken outside of the porthole. A few moments later the doctor came to sit across the small, low table with a tray topped with a tea setting for two. He poured some of the dark tannin water into one of the mismatched cups and placed it in front of Riddick.

"I didn't say I wanted any..." Riddick glared at Simon through his goggles.

"You didn't say 'No'." Simon calmly poured his tea then took a sweet roll that had seen many better days. He tapped the roll on the saucer and grimaced at the hollow thunk it made then dipped it into his tea, where he held it until it was sufficiently drowned.

"You got a particular hate for that cookie, Doc?" Riddick regarded the doctor with a steady glance. The doctor looked at the roll and plucked it out of the tea, just before it went to pieces.

"I have a 'particular hate' for most of the food on this boat, Mister Riddick." He pulled the now over-hydrated pastry from the steaming tea and grimaced at it.

Riddick reached toward his tea cup with a slow, ducking motion. At the moment his fingers would have brushed the chipped pottery, Riddick snatched the sodden pastry from the doctor's fingers.

"So..." He bit a soggy chunk off one side of the pastry, grimaced, then tossed the remainder back onto the doctor's saucer. "Why does an outfit like this need a doc on staff?"

"I make tea." Simon picked up his mug and took a meaningful sip.

"Don't forget pastin' cracked skulls back together." Jayne said from the doorway. "We're about to touch down, so now'd be a good time to get yer stuff ready."

"Won't take long." Riddick sipped at his tea. "I know you'll hate to see me go."

"Y'ain't all bad." Jayne reached the observation lounge and leaned over to snatch the abused snack from Simon's plate. He shoved the whole thing in his mouth and continued to talk. "Ah fink nekt tahm ah wan ya on mah team, doh."

"Heh..." Riddick chuckled at Simon's reaction to the mouth full of food. "Yeah, next time..."

"Attention!" Mal's voice came over the intercom. "We'll be touching dirt in five, and set to unload in fifteen. All hands to your places."

Jayne swung out of the galley still chewing on Simon's snack and Simon glared at the back of his skull. Riddick chuckled again then stood to leave.

"Next time, don't dope him before you get to pastin'." Riddick suggested and got a sly look from the doctor. Riddick had just stepped into the corridor when Jayne's panicked voice came over the com.

"All hands to cargo! Cat's outta the box!"

Riddick heard the doctor run up behind him, but didn't expect Simon to shove him into the wall. Hell! He didn't even think the guy would be that strong.

"Hey!" He yelled at Simon's back as the doctor trotted down the hall.

"Excuse me!" Simon yelled back not bothering to slow down.

Mal and Zoe jogged into the corridor, headed in the same direction.

"Do me a favor, Riddick, and stay in your bunk until we're ready to disembark."

"Yeah..." They didn't stick around long enough to hear his answer and Riddick had no intention of missing the first fun there had been on this boat in days.

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**Well, there you have it! Reviews welcome... encouraged even.**


	7. Where the Wild Thing Is

**Well, here we have another very late chapter. I'm sorry to keep y'all waiting so long for so little! I hope you enjoy what I do get up -_-**

**As always, I don't own anything in this story. All the rights go to the people with the lawyers.**

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Jayne pressed his back against the cold metal of the bulkhead and followed the thing in the cargo hold with his eyes. He wouldn't let this one get the drop on him. It might be small, but that didn't mean it couldn't gut him.

It moved about like an animal but watched him with wary, intelligent eyes. It grabbed up a piece of broken crate just as Zoe and Mal appeared at the top of the catwalk.

"Careful, Mal!" Jayne barked without taking his eyes off the slinking thing in front of him. "It's got a weapon..." Mal halted at the top of the catwalk steps and opened his arms in a peaceful type gesture. Zoe made a small motion behind the cover of Mal's wide arms and Jayne knew at least she had the good sense to be armed.

Unfortunately, the feral creature saw her movement, too. It snarled showing teeth, filed to sharp points, and bloody gums where some had been cut out of its mouth. It glared at the captain and Zoe with a hatred Jayne had never seen, not even in others like this one.

"It's not working, Captain." River's smooth, high-pitched voice came from the corridor. She was just standing there, cool as fruit, stroking the bulkhead. "It understands your ultimatum, but refuses captivity." Her head was cocked to the side at that angle. The one that would tell anyone on this boat, except maybe Riddick, that she had gone feng-Le.

Mal continued down the stairs a few steps then halted, mid way. "Problem is: it's also refused hospitality."

The creature's eyes flicked from one target to another, noting that there were more targets than it could handle and none of them seemed particularly panicked. Jayne could just barely make out Simon's voice murmur something from inside the corridor and Mal nodded.

The thing crouched low and started to growl through its gnashed teeth. Jayne saw his moment and stepped away from the wall, but the wild creature caught the movement. It turned its hatred toward him and gathered to lunge.

The small beast and River leapt at the same instance. The animal launched itself at Jayne, a small bundle of energy and needle-sharp teeth bared to rip his throat out. River palmed the railing of the scaffolding, vaulted over the thin steel and launched herself from the landing onto the cargo bay floor just behind the creature as its small body slammed into Jayne.

Jayne hadn't had enough time to brace, so all he could to do was keep the thing from eating his face. The force of the thing's momentum slammed them back into the wall and Jayne exhaled sharply in surprise. The creature clawed at Jayne's head in desperate attempt to draw his flesh close enough to gnaw on, but Jayne locked his elbows straight and turned his face away, grimacing from the sight.

~:}¥{:~

Riddick found his eyes again on the girl as she arrowed through the air, sun dress billowing and fluttering around her thin frame. The rugged looking kid caught the Merc right as she landed, light on her feet and dropped to a crouch to equalize the force of her landing.

Before Riddick could blink, River had popped upright and executed a roundhouse like a ballerina should. She spun in a graceful pirouette, extending her leg at just the right moment and knocking the wild thing from Jayne's grasp. The kid was sent, flying, across the room to where Riddick was standing in the shadows behind some crates. It came to a skidding halt at his feet but didn't sit still for long.

As soon as the kid hit the deck it sprang back into action. Or... Would have, if Riddick had not snatched it out of the air by the greasy, shaggy mane. He shook the snarling monster child until it's teeth chattered and it stopped trying to bite him. Simon rushed down the scaffolding stairs and across the cargo bay decking. He stepped up to the child, grabbed a wiry leg and was mule-kicked when he jabbed it with a hypo.

"Cute kid, doc... you breed it yourself?" Simon chuckled and shook his head as he picked himself up, off the floor, Riddick jerked his chin toward the medical supplies bag the doctor was stashing his hypo in. "What's that?"

"Vitamins, minerals, basic immune boosters, a tracking chip and enough tranquilizers to keep a gorilla playing nice."

"Tracking chip?" Riddick's eyebrows raised toward his shiny scalp.

"Can't have him wanderin' about, unsupervised." Mal had strutted over to join them, "But on days like this, where there's been all kinds of unsupervised wandering, we should have a way of finding the lad before he kills us all in our sleep."

"What's wrong with 'im...?" Riddick stuffed the kid into the crate, pausing to grab the shiv out of the child's limp fingers.

"That, there's a Reever!" Jayne was rubbing on a shoulder, rotating it.

"Jayne!" Mal scolded him. "What have I told you about speakin' in public?"

"It's a bit late to be all cautious, like!" Jayne poked a finger at Riddick, "He done seen it, Mal!"

"I don't care what he's seen!" Mal growled the rebuke. "You keep yer trap shut."

Riddick frowned at Jayne's extended digit then brushed it aside with the back of his own hand. Jayne sneered but backed out of Riddick's immediate reach.

"Reevers don't keep children." River stated the fact as if she were telling them The Black is cold. "Too weak. Fatty meats."

There was a small sound of movement from inside the crate right before the wild child started screaming at the top of its lungs. The sharp sound elicited reactions from everyone in the cargo bay ranging from Jayne's kicking the crate to River covering her ears and running out the way she had come.

"How are we gonna get this thing loaded, if it won't stay shut up?" Jayne yelled at Mal over the wailing.

Mal just threw his hands up in the air and turned to leave. River darted back into the bay, clutching something in each hand. She sprinted up to the crate and shoved something through the slats.

The sound assault faltered, then ceased entirely and River smiled. She pushed another thing through the slats, and another, continuing until her hands were empty.

"The animal was on the hunt." River cooed and patted the side of the crate. "Hungry-"

"I fed it!" Jayne barked at her but she made a face and stuck out her tongue.

"It doesn't eat what you give it."

"Oh, yeah?" Jayne grimaced, "Then what does the King of the Wild Things eat?"

"Sweet rolls." She smiled at him and batted her eyes.

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**Alrighty! Tell me what you think ^_^**


	8. Neither Here, Nor There

**Hey guys! I'm sorry for the wait... at least it's not as long as last time, right?**

**One of you asked, in an anonymous review, why this isn't listed in the Firefly cross overs and that I might reach more readers from those lists... Well, that is sound reasoning; however, this story actually has more hits than my other Firefly bits. I am interested in getting it into some of the Firefly collections. So, if anyone has any suggestions for communities that aren't stagnant I'd love to 'hear' them.**

**Well! Onto the good stuff!**

**I don't own any of this. I just press the buttons.**

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Riddick sat on a crate in the cargo bay watching the box with the animalistic child in it. Small glints of light peeked out between the slats, watching him back. Riddick glared at the glints of light and they glared back... then faded out and reappeared in a slow motion, showing that the child knew who had dominance.

Or at least showing that he knew who had cookies. Riddick slid off the box and shoved the sweet between the slats, then followed it with a stick of spiced beef flavored protein and a small vitamin bar that was supposed to taste like granola and chocolate. _Supposed_ to...

There were insistent sounds of wrappers being shredded and food being consumed at a rapid pace, then gagging and retching. The kid got done vomiting and started to whine.

"You gotta take it slow, kid." Riddick murmured at the wild child and passed him a pouch of water. "We survive. If you can't keep it down, you'll starve to death. If you take a bit and keep the rest you'll have more for later." He passed another vitamin bar to the kid then turned away.

"I didn't know you had a thing for kids, Rick." The dark haired girl, River, told him.

"'The young that survive are the strongest.'" Riddick quoted, from a deep memory, "'Give them the respect they deserve, for the strongest will be our warriors.'"

"'The young who die deserve your respect, for they gave everything they had in the way of a true warrior.'" She continued the Furyan law of ages and Riddick glanced at her.

"Not many would bother to learn the laws of a dead planet," He commented as they strolled up the steps, "Much less memorize them."

"I memorize everything." She waved a small hand, dismissing the comment. "I don't know if the boy is Furyan, though. He was found on a crashed Reaver ship by a small settlement. They had no idea what to do with him and were so scared that he'd turn them all into Reavers that they boxed him up and paid us to take him. Told the captain that it was a very dangerous animal and that they'd sold it to a zoo in Dyton. We got to the Dyton heliopause and I hailed the zoo... only they had no record of an animal delivery."

"So you're stuck with the King of the Wild things?" Riddick summed up the issue and she nodded. "Tell me... how'd you know about him being found?"

The girl looked at Riddick out of the corner of his eye and gave him a half-smile instead of an answer. Things clicked into place for Riddick and he snorted a chuckle.

~:}Y{:~

Mal and River set the ship down in their assigned birth and were politely told that none of their folk were allowed to disembark and to expect a docking official at their airlock with further instructions.

"Well, ain't that a cheery hello..." Mal scowled at the vid com.

"The zoo probably contacted them about our previous wave." River suggested with a soft, but firm, voice. "Want to make sure we don't have any dangerous animals, on the boat."

"Problem is, li'l Albatross, that we _do_." He swiveled the pilot seat around and stood up out of it. "Let's go get them smuggled away, huh?"

"I don't think Riddick will allow himself to be put in a box." River admonished.

"Well, maybe he'll have a better idea." Mal strode down the corridor and into the galley where Simon, Kaylee and Riddick sat, discussing the prisoner in the cargo bay. "We're due for inspection, any minute now." Mal told them. Riddick stood, his chair scraping back and Mal could swear he heard a low growl come from him.

"Hey!" Kaylee tried to soothe the Furyan. "No one said we were turnin' you over! Mal wouldn't have even told us about the inspection, if'n we were."

"Right." Mal nodded at the group, swallowing the knot of animal panic that rose at the deep sound of rumbling snarl. "There's plenty of hidey places in this bird... I didn't want to choose one for you, seems as you might be more comfortable if I don't know where you're secreted. We have to figure out where to put the boy."

"I'll take the kid." Riddick growled. "hide him with me."

"Out of the box?" Jayne said, stepping over the threshold into the galley. "You can't take that miniature Reaver out of the box!"

"I could kill you where you stand," Riddick told the burly merc. "I won't hesitate to incapacitate the kid, and he knows it."

"Well, then..." Simon spoke up to keep the other men from tearing at each other any more. "I guess that settles it. And none too soon, I suspect. We have to get the box dismantled so they don't find an animal carrier but no animal."

"Right, again." Mal congratulated him then turned toward the cargo bay without another word.

~:}Y{:~

The Dark One was there again. The door to the cage was open and he was standing in it. His hand was out. Fear. Safety. Danger. Comfort... Food! The Dark One had more food, good food. This one shouldn't be trusted... but the hunger was gnawing at the belly, so decisions were hard to make right.

The Dark One took a step back, providing a perfect chance for escape, but at the last second the Dark One grabbed at the hair, holding on tight. None of the screaming, kicking or scratching could make the Dark One let go of the hair.

"You're coming with me, runt." The Dark One breathed the words in the face, asserting possessive dominance. "We're gonna hide and you can snack." The Dark One handed over a small sweet treat then let go of the hair.

Escape would be sweet... but treats were sweeter. Besides, The Dark One smacked the head when there was a step taken out of line. Better to stay with treats than run with pain.

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**Well, there you have it. Reviews! Suggestions! :-D  
**


	9. Hide and Seek

**Sorry for the wait, guys... We finally got moved into the new house! I also have a short story coming out in a compilation book in a couple of weeks. YAY!**

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Riddick slid into place over the modular hull of the infirmary. He put a hand on the wildchild's back, holding him still. This was the type of sanctuary that was easily found, but often forgotten.

Well, you know... the whole room in an airtight vehicle _slides out_. People just aren't wired to think like that; it has to be taught or learned the hard way. The Alliance was never really known for teaching things that should be common sense.

The kid squirmed again and Riddick pressed a little firmer on his back. The beast boy stilled just as the cargo bay doors started to lift.

~:}Y{:~

River stood with the rest of the crew on the tarmac of the dirt-side docking station. She waited while the crew of service technicians rummaged through everything they could open and studied the rocks at the toe tip of her boot. When that got boring she moved on to pushing the little rocks around on the blacktop.

This, too, quickly got boring so she looked up to examine the sky. There was no clouds, from horizon to horizon, making it look like a great big blue bowl. This bowl, if she looked at it hard enough, would warp and consume her focus of sight. She could follow differing trails and patterns in the same oneness of the endless blue skies.

River knew the workings of atmospheric retention, but some things never got old. The atmosphere getting thinner and thinner, the heavier gases being held down to the ground and the lighter ones floating up, escaping the gravitational pull until it was more gas particles than actual gas and it couldn't be breathed anymore. Just six hundred kilometers up satellites and other craft were in low orbit, hanging over their heads like giant metal birds of prey, circling...

"Whellp!" The lead technician said to gain the crew's attention and River swiveled her head back down to look at him. "The crate you have address to the Zoo is empty. Seems you've been joshed on."

"Yeah," Mal grunted. "It seems we all have."

~:}Y{:~

Jayne looked at River while she contemplated the sky. He frowned a bit, just for the sake of frowning. He looked more distinguished when he was frowning.

He watched how her hair flicked and drifted as she tossed her head back to look upward. The soft skin of her throat stretching over the sinewy muscles there. She waved her head, back-and-forth... back-and-forth... her hair swaying as it dangled from her scalp in glossy hanks.

He knew that he was hopeless for her, but every time they got their shit together he'd go an' fuck it all to hell! For all that he called her moon-brained, they both knew who the "special" one of their couple was.

The tech guy came out to talk to Mal. Mal grunted something back and motioned for the crew to get on with the rest of their drop.

~:}Y{:~

Riddick was breathing through his mouth in an effort to be as quiet as possible and was trying to will the uncooperative beast beside him into a coma... quietly. The kid rustled around every few moments until Riddick flicked him in the ear.

Just a few more minutes and they could escape this claustrophobic space. It was a crawl space for workers to be able to manually disengage the modular med unit and get out. It was not intended for people to lay in for hours.

The kid squirmed again, just as a shadow fell across the hatch they had just come through. He had been able to pull the grate up behind them and set the placement catches, but he had the screws in his pocket.

He grabbed the back of the kid's neck and smushed his loud little face into his muscular shoulder. _Kids should be hugged often_. He thought to himself.

The shadow moved on and Riddick let the kid go. The kid pulled back, but was now moving silently. After another few minutes of eternity, he could smell Mal's gun oil and canvas and Zoe's leather. He heard boot steps on the deck plating and the grate was lifted off the access crawlspace.

"All set now." Mal said and Riddick started to combat crawl... backward.

He inched his way back a foot or two then watched, dumbfounded as the kid doubled over bonelessly and flopped out on his belly, facing Riddick.

He glared at the boy as he lay there waiting for Riddick to squirm his way out of the tube. He propped his head in his hands and blinked at Riddick until he managed to get enough leverage to hoist himself the rest of the way out.

He stood upright and stretched his back. "Common, Piglet." He stuck his hand back into the tube and a smaller one grasped it.

"Piglet?" Mal asked in that 'I'm waiting' way he had about him.

"Didn't seem as we should be calling him 'Beast-boy' or 'Monster'." Riddick shrugged. "Piglet seems to fit him."

"Well, yer kid owes me for transport." Mal grumbled.

"Ain't mine..." Riddick growled back as he absently grabbed the kid's arm to keep him from wandering off. Piglet snarled and made like he was going to scratch Riddick's hand but he knocked the kid's hand away then flicked his ear. He realized what had just happened and looked around.

"Shit." He barked before pulling the grime covered child toward the head. "Time for some personal grooming, kid."

~:}Y{:~

River followed the small noises of distress in her head to a secluded corner of the guest dorms. She could hear the noises with her ears, now. Teeth chattering and sniffling... She bent down to look into the bottom of the wall locker and saw a pair of glittering gems glaring back at her.

"You do not like baths?" She asked the child, who just continued to glower at her. "You are not dressed." She stated, and started to reach toward the shivering child.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you..." Riddick warned from the shadows at the head of the bed.

"You are not me." She didn't even look up at him. She motioned to the child and sent soothing thoughts at him. "Come here, Piglet. I will give you warmth and food." The child was thinking of her feet kicking him across the cargo bay.

"When people attack people they must be ready for violence. The pack protects its members, cub. Even from other members." She told him in a reasonable tone and the child inched forward. "Richard, will you please give us the blanket you're sitting on?"

Riddick got off the bed and whisked the blanket into the air, flipping it so it would settle over her hand. She folded it in a couple of quick movements and handed it to the child. Piglet tried to snatch it away but she wouldn't let him. The child let out a wail of frustration and tried to rip the cloth from her fingers. She just held onto it, holding it out for him.

"Nicely, please." She sent a mental picture of Simon taking something from Kaylee. She couldn't gauge how well her projections were received, this child had a sort of block that wouldn't let her read his direct thoughts, but he calmed and held out his hands for the blanket. She placed the rough cloth in his hands and he clasped the blanket to his chest. "That's a lot easier. Fighting is for protection."

She looked up at Riddick, who blinked back at her in slight surprise. "Mal would like a word with you. I can sit with Piglet, if you like." Riddick looked at her for a moment, then at the locker. He shrugged, nodded and left the room.

River sat on the bed and began to talk to the child. "I used to know a little girl who wouldn't talk. Her name was Ruby..."

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**You know the drill, guys. Read and review, please! ^_^**


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